Myth Busted – You can compost paper

We at Green Action Centre often hear from people asking what they can do with paper products like heavily soiled pizza boxes that they are told they should not recycle. What do you do when you are faced with this situation? Can you put it in your compost bin?

Tell us about your experience with paper products that you can’t recycle.

Myth Busted!

Most paper materials are both recyclable and compostable. The question might be which is the best option for a specific situation. For paper that is not recyclable, such as that greasy pizza box, the options are either compost it or throw it in the trash. Composting is definitely the better option here and based on the responses to our myth, just tear it up into small pieces and toss it in. One Green Action Centre staffer says that she tears off the parts that are not greasy, like the top and sides, and recycles that portion. The greasy part goes to the compost bin.

Kevin’s response to the myth got a discussion on the thermal paper used for receipts and whether the BPA contained in these receipts represented a serious concern for your compost. No clear answer emerged from the discussion and it would appear that more research may be needed on this subject. While receipts represent only a very small proportion of the final compost product, for now each of us will have to decide for ourselves whether these are better recycled and kept out of our compost.

A question that did not emerge from this discussion was whether it is better to recycle paper or compost it? It’s great that we have two alternatives for our waste that doesn’t involve sending it to the landfill and in some cases we need both.

When it comes to most paper, recycling is the slightly better option. One of the reasons for this is that when we recycle our paper we reduce the number of trees that need to be harvested. In addition recycling paper requires less energy, uses less water, and creates less air pollution than paper production from virgin materials.

There are those times however when composting is the better alternative. We already know that those greasy pizza boxes are best composted, but are there other paper products that are better composted? Well there are those soiled napkins and tissues that you can’t recycle. And what about that shredded paper, might it be better to compost? It’s already in small pieces and will break down quickly in your compost pile. If you check out the City of Winnipeg’s FAQ’s on recycling you’ll find that you need to pack it tightly in your Blue Box or you can put it into a large (77 litre) see through plastic bag. These large bags are then separated from the rest of the recycling and emptied by hand before the rest of the recyclables go through the automated plant. Once again each of us needs to decide for ourselves what works best, but please make sure that you keep it from blowing down the street.

There are also some papers that shouldn’t be recycled or composted such as glossy magazines and foil wrapping paper. These types of paper have strong dyes, heavy inks and other printing chemicals that make them unsuitable. The best option is to avoid them in the first place.

29 Comments

I’m not 100% what you’re asking, but here’s some thoughts on shredded paper:
If you have access to a commercial composting service such as Compost Winnipeg, you can put shredded paper into the buckets/compostable bags provided to you through that service. The bag and the shredded paper inside it will break down nicely in an industrial scale composting facility.

However, compostable plastics do not break down well or at all in a smaller backyard bin. In that case, you should add the shredded paper directly into your compost bin without any bags wrapped around it.

Shredded paper can also be recycled. According to the City of Winnipeg website:
“Place shredded paper securely inside a clear plastic bag [and placed in your blue bin]. This is the ONLY exception to the “no plastic bag” policy.

Do not place shredded paper loose in your recycling container as it gets scattered and contaminated, making it unfit to be recycled.”

A further thought: if you’re putting shredded paper into the recycling in Winnipeg, you should NOT use certified-compostable bags. These are not designed to go through recycling systems and are not sturdy enough. Additionally, they cannot be recycled due to the composition of the bag. Put the shredded paper in a clear, traditional plastic bag, if you are going to recycle it.

Many people here have mentioned recycling thermal receipts. In AZ we are not allowed to add thermal affected paper to the recycling bin much to my chagrin. Therefore, I have been throwing them away. I’m not thrilled with their leaching anything into the ground whether at the landfill or my compost bin, but people still insist on printing them at the stores and in unseemly lengths. I purchased 2 items at the grocer and came away with a 14inch receipt. I wouldn’t mind composting but will have to do more research.

A great point! A percentage of receipts are printed on paper treated with plastic, including BPA, and I totally understand the potential concern with composting those. Refusing receipts at the store can be a good way to start making an impact (though often they’ll just get printed anyway) – as can writing companies and asking them to use non-thermal paper or offer emailled receipts.

Yes, I’m skeptical about the Green Machine/Nutrimill style of composting as well. I’ve heard of people who love it, but I’d rather stick to non-electric methods myself! Shredded office paper is also what we use for our worm bedding in the office 🙂

While pure paper products can be added to a compost bin, remember that plastic cannot: and many labels and fast food sandwich wrappers are plasticized. If the paper you want to compost looks or feels shiny or coated, or if it can hold water, it is likely better sent to the landfill. Items like sugar substitute packages should be compostable, but we’d recommend adding them to your recycling bin first! It’s better to recycle paper because it becomes new paper products, reducing the need for trees. Generally labels are plasticized and need to be landfilled; fast food sandwich wrappers you’ll have to examine. I haven’t tried them, if you do, let us know how it goes!

WAIT! Another there is an alternative to the landfill for plasticized paper and generally not recyclable products – a company called Terracycle who recycles these things for a fee (they do some for free that are sponsored by companies definitely worth a look! They have branches in most countries.

TerraCycle is indeed a good option here in Canada (https://www.terracycle.ca/en-CA/ for those interested in learning more). Unfortunately most of the categories cost money for the collection box. In Winnipeg, I recommend Winnipeg Recycling Service (call 204-299-7368 for their company) – they collect aluminum foil, filmy plastic, and a small amount of plasticized paper. Thanks for sharing 🙂

This is a concern I hear from some people, so you’re not alone in this. I’d love to see if you’ve found any research showing that dioxins linger both in bleached paper and the compost that it’s placed in. Here’s one good article suggesting something similar to what you’re saying https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-paper/. However, I do compost white office paper printed with black ink, as I believe that the benefits of easy composting outweigh the potential small risk of trace chemicals. This is a personal decision and I encourage people to research the issues! It’s ALWAYS best to recycle paper over composting it because it will turn back into paper products, reducing the need for more trees to be harvested.

If you get new cats or kittens in your household, shredded papper makes the best cat litter. If you have established cats who are used to clay litter, you may be able to switch them to paper by mixing the. Either way, you can compost the used litter.

Green Action Centre does not recommend composting pet waste in your regular compost bin due to risks of pathogens. There are resources on the internet that explains how to manage your dog and cat waste using pet waste digesters which is very different than your typical outdoor bin. Managing pet waste requires many precautions due to the risk of being exposed to pathogens, so it’s best to err on the side of caution.

I bought a heavy duty paper shredder. It was a cheap one from Big Lots. I use it everyday and shred paper, cardboard, paper board, whatever. I then add to my compost along with kitchen waste, leaves, ect.

If the chemicals in paper contain contaminants i would suggest that if they are are at acceptable levels to allow people to be exposed to them in the paper they will be diluted and broken down in compost and soil.

That’s a reasonable comment. Generally we find that people want to avoid chemicals when it comes to their gardens and so we recommend that they avoid the glossy papers that are not generally vegetable based inks. Some people may feel as you do that this is not an issue and so can certainly make their own decision to incorporate this kind of paper into their compost.

we shred receipts and other quesionable
paper toadd toour recycling bin..the only paper products to be added into our edible
compost is unbleached coffee filters..i am still not comfortbale w/ newspaper in any
garden setting-call me atradtionailist!
make sure your tree roots are protectedon thesouth and west sides re no snow!
able

Since I am an ornamental gardener and build my compost as an amendment, I compost most everything – pizza boxes, bacon paper, very greasy paper towelling, very small pieces of plastic, old metal twist ties, etc. If I don’t mind some if the bulk, it goes in the ground; if I want finer compost for top dressing, I screen out the weird stuff…

I do respect the thoughts of creating an ultimate-organic-toxin free compost… it is not something I need to do at this time… my open compost piles (I have four+) are in the far corners of my yard, so I do not concern myself with raccoons, cats, mice, etc. that are attracted to grease-based VOCs – but these critters are part of the urban ecosystem… so I do not fight them.

Paper products are carbons so no problem composting them. One should keep in mind that there are almost no nutrients in paper or cardboard so compost made with a lot of paper would have less nutrients than a compost made with leaves as the main carbon.

What do you folks do with receipts? I’m more concerned about this. I had cut all mine up and added them to my shredded paper, but then later learned that the thermal receipts have BPA, which you wouldn’t want in your compost, right? Or does the BPA get taken care of by the worms or natural decomposition? It has to go somewhere, so I’m wondering whether there would be seepage.

I’m not sure I have an answer for you. Personally I shred my receipts and have both recycled and composted the shredded paper. I am not sure whether they represent a significant hazard. Research seems to indicate that approximately 40% of receipts could contain BPA. Combine this with the very small proportion that they represent of my shredded paper and in my compost pile as well as the fact that they get thoroughly mixed into the pile before then being spread over a large area of garden, I don’t consider the exposure to be an issue.

That said, If someone has more information on BPA in receipts I’d love to hear it. I don’t think that I would use these in my vermicompost bin and I’m certainly glad I don’t work in the retail sector where I have to handle them all day.

Many people that compost tend to run low on dry materials (browns) and so shredded paper is a good alternative. Not being able to recycle your shredded paper might be a good reason to start composting.